Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Umar
Na’Abba, has disclosed that in November 2017, President Muhammadu Buhari told members of the
All Progressives Congress (APC) Board of Trustees (BoT) that he would seek
re-election in 2019.
Na’Abba who is a member of the board vowed not to support
Buhari’s re-election bid because the president “has not added even an inch of
value to democracy.”
In an interview with Osasu Igbinedion, the former speaker
accused the president of running a “one-man” government.
He said Buhari does not consult party members before taking
decisions because he “considers them to be evil.”
According to the News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the former Speaker said: “I had the occasion
to sit down with the president and tell him this is what is wrong. And all he
told me was that things were wrong before but now, with his election,
everything is right. And I was very, very disappointed.’
“A lot of people campaigned, supported him and elected him for one reason or the
other. I decided to move back to APC from PDP to support him because from his
utterances, I believed he wanted to add value to democracy.
“And this is three years into his administration, he doesn’t
work with the party, he regards party members as evil, he doesn’t consult with
anybody in the party and I am a member of the Party BoT even though we don’t
have it officially.
“The last time we had a meeting with such a board was in
February 2016. Such meeting was called again in November 2017 when he decided
he wanted to get re-elected and he needed us.
“He promised to reconstitute the board. Before, he refused to do
that because he thought politicians are responsible for all the evils in this
country. He also promised to increase the number of ministers.
“In a nutshell, the president has not added value to democracy
by an inch.”
Asked if there was a chance that the APC would field another
presidential candidate other than Buhari, Na’Abba said some party members have hijacked and pocketed the
party.
He distanced himself from those endorsing the president for a
second term.
“Nigerians have chosen democracy as the system within which they
produce their leaders, and that any president who comes must ensure that the
democratic architecture is improved substantially because it has been
weak, it is still weak and will continue to be weak.
“After I told you that I am not going to support him or not, I
want you to understand my reason. Today, we have no internal democracy in the
country and the quality of leadership has been failing.
“Democracy, economy and society have not grown since 1999 and
this is as
a result of this tendency. And I have children, grandchildren and it is only when there is
democracy that every Nigerian can make it in life.
“There is no way I can support him.
“They said they have endorsed him to contest. I am sure they did
not ask the opinion of anybody since they have put the party in their pocket,”
he said.
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